Although it might not be as complex as some of the other examples that may be used, I think it is very relevant. Everyone has probably heard of it at some point, and fantasy football has become extremely widespread not only online but on television and radio. Each community, or league, may only consist of ten to sixteen people, but can happen between people all over the country, and contact may spread to many other fantasy football communities. It is a simple concept, as people draft actual NFL players, and these players must score more points in a head-to-head match up with another person's "fantasy team" or roster of players. Although it was created in 1962, according to Wikipedia, fantasy football took off in the 1990's with the rise of personal computers and the internet.
In some cases, the internet may mediate the entire league's communication, as twelve people from twelve different states can participate in the same league. Anyone can join a pre-existing league full of strangers and play the entire season. A popular fantasy website is CBS Sportsline, which has all fantasy sports including baseball, hockey, basketball and more. There, communication between people is moderated by the internet. Users of the website have to create an account which requires an email address and optional instant messenger screen name. These are visible for all other members of the league, and they can contact you. Also, on the specific league's homepage, messages can be exchanged on the visible message board, polls can be created, scores are displayed, and trade offers and free agent signings are also displayed. Actual news about players from the NFL are displayed and links are present for transfer to actual team websites. There are also videos available from various television segments giving advice to team owners. All of this is done entirely automatically by the specific website, and only requires minimal initial setup by someone in the league.
People that may or may not ever meet each other develop ties with each other over the years. Some fantasy leagues continue year after year with the same people, and they are allowed to keep some of their players. Rivalries are created due to the actual football players that people have on their team, or the trash talk between people over the message boards. Friendly bets between two people that are playing against each other is common. An overall bond is created based on the fact that all the people in the league are members of a specific group. If these people know each other outside of the league, fantasy football gives them something to talk about, if they don't talk already.
Something as simple as simple as fantasy football can be compared to other communities that are not online, such as a job. Where someone works is a specific group that not everyone is a part of. All the people that work there have an interest, or similar task to accomplish. As with fantasy football, even though everyone may not get along at certain points, there is that bond with each other that comes from working at the same place, and doing things together, sometimes for many years. With co-workers, sometimes you crate a friendship by then doing things outside of work, like meeting up at school for example. The same goes with online communities such as a fantasy football league. People may join other leagues with friends, and their online network will continue to expand.
Sources:
CBS Sportsline
http://www.sportsline.com/fantasy
Fantasy Football (American). 10 October 2007. Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_football_(American)
I was looking for bills highlights, but found this...this guy is amazing we've been tailgating games with him for 5 years:
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3 comments:
nice blog, too bad bills lost the game
Too bad for the bill that was the cowboys best effort to lose and they still werent successful. haha
Nice blog, i LOVED the video, that guy is hilarious, and i think I've seen him tailgating before, Tough loss.
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